Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 572: The Three Brothers of the Old Liu Family
Inside the house, Xu Ning sat on the edge of the kang holding a teacup. He looked at the yellow soup in the cup, then put it into his mouth to taste it, and he knew it was good tea. The requirements for tea in rural areas these days are not high. As long as the soup can be produced, the darker the color, and the bitterer the taste, it can be called good tea. Therefore, when most people have guests at home, they will brew a pot of bitter and strong tea to express their warm welcome.

But the second uncle's thinking was different. He heard from his uncle-in-law that the more capable and worldly people are, the more they like to drink lighter tea, which has a mellow and sweet taste. At first, the second uncle was a little unhappy when he didn't see Xu Ning. He thought to himself: You and my niece are getting married, why don't you come to our house to take a look? What's wrong, do you dislike our house because it smells bad?

After meeting Xu Ning, the second uncle spoke harshly to him, but Xu Ning was not angry. Instead, he was very nice and revealed the second uncle's inner thoughts in a few words. To be honest, the second uncle was very happy, otherwise how could he personally brew Longjing tea and slaughter chickens, ducks and geese to entertain? According to his son Liu Hongjun, this is really the highest standard of treatment. Usually, when guests come to the house, they only slaughter chickens. As for Longjing tea? Drinking some tea leaves is good!
Xu Ning looked at his uncle's impatient eyes and quickly gave him an emotional value, saying, "This tea is really good! It tastes smooth and mellow, and has a refreshing fragrance. Where did my uncle get this good tea?"

The second uncle slapped his thigh, his eyes sparkling, and said excitedly, "Look! I knew you could taste it. This is what your brother-in-law brought back from the south last year. It costs 12 yuan for one ounce. Bring me half a pound."

Liu Hongjun said with a smile: "Usually my dad is reluctant to drink it himself, he only brings it out when he sees you are here."

Second uncle narrowed his eyes and said, "Who wants to drink that crap? It has no taste and its color is not right. I think it's worse than drinking corn silk!"

"You know nothing, this is really good tea! The price is right here, if you don't believe me, just ask Erning!"

Xu Ning smiled and said, "As long as it suits your taste, it is good tea. Corn silk is also good. It can cure diseases at critical moments. Most people don't know this. It's obvious that my second uncle knows a lot."

"Hahaha, look at how good Erning is at chatting. You're so old, but you always go against me." Second uncle's shoulders were shaking with laughter.

The second uncle snorted coldly: "You always look at me with displeasure."

The old lady chewed the mung bean cake, took two bites and drank some water to smooth it out, and said, "No wonder my eldest granddaughter chose Erning. This child is capable and good at chatting. Who wouldn't like him?"

Liu Hongjun said with a smile: "Grandma, Erning is so handsome, there is no one in our village who can compare to him."

The second uncle said, "Oh my god, whose child is this handsome? When I see Er Ning, I know his parents must be good looking too."

Meng Quezi smiled and said, "That's for sure."

Second uncle waved his hand: "You are all too superficial. Appearance is secondary. The most important thing is ability! Don't always look at appearance, you have to look at ability. I think Erning's ability is much better than his face."

This chatterbox is quite skilled, but given my second uncle's personality, he just speaks the truth.

Xu Ning raised his head and laughed: "Hahaha, my second uncle still understands me! I am happy to hear this."

"Of course I will! I am happy to tell the truth and not to lie. I will not pretend to be a fool."

Liu Fenfang couldn't stand it anymore, so she stood up and said, "Second brother, go and cook the chicken."

The old lady observed the people in the house with a smile. Although she liked to pretend to be sick, she was actually not very willing to chat. According to her idea, as long as she could look at the people in the house, she would be living a happy life.

Meng Quezi said, "Yinhe, go with your second brother."

Xu Ning put down his teacup, said hello to the old lady, and then went out with Meng Ziyan and Meng Yinhe. His second uncle saw him to the door and said, "Just drop off your things and come back! Ask your eldest uncle and your second uncle to come quickly. There's a lot of work to do."

"Oh, I know." Meng Ziyan waved her hand.

The three of them didn't drive. They took the things from the passenger seat and went to their uncle's house.

The second uncle turned around and called Liu Hongjun: "Hurry up and go to the chicken coop to catch the rooster. Xia, go boil some water. Hurry up!"

My second uncle said, "Why are you in such a hurry? Time is running out."

"Hey, what do you know? I just want to finish it quickly so I can have a good drink! I'm going to the backyard to pick some vegetables..."

The second uncle said, "I can go. Let Fang stay in the room and make the quilt."

Meng Quezi said with a smile: "Second brother, you see Er Ning has been busy for you for a long time, why don't we drink more later?"

"What's the point of drinking with you? I'll drink with Er Ning!"

The second uncle gnashed his teeth and said, "Look at you, Xiangzi wanted to thank you, but you took my kindness for granted!"

The second uncle waved his hands: "Why should I thank him? We are all family members, and you are treating us in a rather unorthodox way. Hurry up and catch the chickens and ducks, and wait for the eldest brother to come over and let him pluck their feathers. I don't like the smell of plucking feathers..."

The second uncle in the Liu family has the most outstanding character, mainly emphasizing the word "real" and not being deceitful. The second is the eldest uncle...

Xu Ning and his sister and brother walked to the door where firewood was piled. Meng Ziyan poked her little head inside and saw her elder brother and uncle chopping wood with axes.

"Uncle! Brother!"

The middle-aged man was wearing a hurdle vest, revealing his bronze skin and a slightly dark complexion. He looked like a farmer. The eldest brother had a square face, thick eyebrows and thin lips, following his roots in the Liu family.

"Hey, my niece is here? Come in quickly. Why are you taking things from your own home? Didn't my uncle say that you..."

At this time, Xu Ning stepped into the door and greeted him: "Uncle, brother."

Meng Ziyan blushed and said crisply, "Uncle, this is my boyfriend Xu Ning."

"Oh my god, I'm almost getting calluses on my ears from hearing this name so often, and today is finally the day I've been waiting for!"

Xu Ning said with a smile: "I'm sorry, uncle, I haven't been home before..."

"I know, how can I pick on you? Come in quickly! Yan'er, make some tea quickly, Erning is here!"

"No, uncle, my second uncle just finished drinking."

Meng Yinhe said, "Yes, my second uncle told you to hurry over. My second brother will be at home for lunch."

The eldest brother said, "Since we are here, why don't we go inside and sit for a while?"

At this time, two women walked out of the house. The older one was the uncle and the younger one was the sister-in-law. Because Liu Fenfang was the youngest in the family, the uncle was over 50 years old, older than Yang Yusheng. From this, it can be inferred that the old lady was over 70 years old.

My eldest uncle is rather thin, but he does farm work all year round and has a strong physique. My youngest uncle's legs are not very flexible and he has bow legs. It is probably because he did not have warm clothes when he was a child and was frozen in the cold winter.

"Uncle, sister-in-law."

"Hey, Erning! We've heard about you a long time ago. We've been looking forward to your coming."

Xu Ning said: "I've always wanted to come here earlier. Isn't it the beginning of spring to build a house..."

Meng Ziyan said with a smile: "Uncle, this is the mung bean cake we bought in the provincial capital. He has been busy since the New Year, and has been busy making money to build a house."

"I know. I heard your mother say..."

The uncle threw down the axe and said, "Don't waste time, go into the house and sit for a while. I'll give the mung bean cake to your grandma later..."

Meng Yinhe said, "My grandma has already eaten it. My second brother prepared a lot. I will give this portion to my uncle later."

"Ah." The uncle nodded. After entering the house and putting down his things, he took out a cigarette from the cupboard and asked, "Does Erning smoke?"

"Uncle, I don't smoke anymore..."

Before I could finish my sentence, my uncle said, "Oh, how can you not smoke? What man doesn't smoke? I tell you, life is not always satisfactory. You have to have some hobbies. Otherwise, if you encounter problems in the future, you won't even have something to relieve your stress. What are you going to do?"

Xu Ning grinned and said, "Uncle, I drink. I used to spend all day and night playing with money. I went out to hang out for a few years and almost got sent to jail. Now I have learned my lesson, haven't I? I only drink and don't smoke. What uncle said is right. People really need to have some hobbies."

The uncle was a little confused when he heard this. Liu Lizhen and Meng Quezi would definitely not say bad things about Xu Ning in front of her mother's house. They would only say good things, so it was normal for the uncle not to know Xu Ning's past. "Hey, you were such a fucked-up person before?"

The eldest brother hurriedly pulled his father and said, "Dad, what are you talking about?"

Xu Ning said with a smile: "Brother, it's nothing. I was really a bit of a jerk in the past. Why didn't my uncle and aunt say anything about it?"

My uncle said, "How can they talk about these things? They only pick good things to talk about. This guy praised you so much that I was almost in tears. I was quite puzzled. Who is he? He is so obsessed with my aunt."

"Haha..." Xu Ning laughed.

Meng Ziyan pulled her uncle and said, "Uncle, don't talk nonsense."

"What nonsense! Didn't you cry loudly in the early years? The cry was even more miserable than that of your second uncle's donkey. That guy howled like a ghost!"

"Hahaha..." This time Xu Ning really couldn't help himself. Meng Ziyan snorted twice and turned her face away and ignored him.

Meng Yinhe covered her mouth and said, "Uncle, please give my sister some face, or you will punish me later."

My uncle laughed and said, "Your uncle is always talking nonsense. He just talks about everything."

"Oh, stop talking, I'm embarrassed. Second brother, let's go find my uncle! First uncle, hurry up and pack, my second uncle is slaughtering chickens at home, go over and help him."

"Okay, your second uncle is done playing with me, he can't stand the smell of permed hair."

It's quite interesting to chat with the uncle. Xu Ning used to be completely disgusted, but now he finds it more and more interesting. The three brothers of the Liu family are all kind-hearted. Apart from their foul language, they basically have no other problems.

It can also be seen that the eldest uncle has the final say at home, and the eldest brother is a little afraid of his biological father. On the way to his uncle's house, Meng Ziyan said that the eldest brother was disobedient when he was a child, so he was hung up and whipped with a horsewhip by the eldest uncle. In the entire Liu family, no boy has never been beaten.

"My three uncles are all kind-hearted, second brother, they just don't know how to chat, so don't be like them."

Xu Ning tilted his head and smiled, "Do you even need to tell me that? Your uncle is my uncle, we are real relatives, who can cut off the relationship just because we can't chat?"

"I think my second uncle is very happy. He was excited by my second brother's words, but my eldest uncle was a little frustrated just now..."

After Meng Yinhe finished speaking, Meng Ziyan took Xu Ning's arm and said, "My uncle is not feeling upset at all. I think he is quite happy."

"Oh, he used to give me lessons. I learned carpentry from my dad, and my uncle told me several times in a row to study hard and told me to do this and that. Oh..."

Xu Ning said: "That's just his personality. Just follow his words from now on."

When we arrived at my uncle's house, there was a stone shed on the right side of the yard. Inside there was a small furnace and a tool bench, two rows of knives hung on the wall, and a manual grinder on the ground, but there was no one in the shed.

Meng Ziyan shouted, "Uncle! I'm here!"

It can be heard from the way they greet each other that she has the best relationship with her uncle. It's not that they are all uncles and there is no distinction between close and distant relatives. In fact, no matter how people get along with each other, there are people they like to contact and people they don't like to contact. When the relationship is the same, you will naturally have the best relationship with whoever you feel comfortable with.

Of course, this is Meng Ziyan's subjective opinion, and Meng Yinhe prefers to get along with the second uncle. They don't have any opinions or dislikes about the eldest uncle, but the eldest uncle is too old and likes to educate people, so the children will definitely not be happy to chat with him...

Inside the house, the uncle was drinking tea, and the young man was sitting on a bench with a grindstone in front of him. He was rubbing a willow-leaf-shaped knife back and forth in his hand.

Hearing the voice, they both looked up and looked out the window. The young man smiled and said, "My sister's boyfriend is here."

"Oh, it's not that great!" The uncle put down his teacup without further ado, turned around and walked to the outer room, shouting, "Fuck! The girlfriend of the eldest aunt is here, why are you still lingering in the room?"

"Putting on shoes! Keep quiet, the child is sleeping... wah wah wah..."

Before she could finish her words, the child sleeping on the kang in the west room started crying. The sister-in-law wandered around holding the child, saying, "Mom, go out and greet him quickly. I'll hold him. It's okay."

Then, the three of them hurried to the courtyard. Meng Ziyan said with a smile, "Uncle, uncle, little brother, this is my boyfriend Xu Ning."

Xu Ning greeted him with a smile: "Uncle, uncle, I'm late."

"Hey, it's never too late to come! I know you're busy!" This is what my uncle said.

My uncle said, "Well, we're glad you can come! I heard you went to the provincial capital? Did you come back yesterday?"

"I got home dark last night. These are the mung bean cakes and other things I brought back from the provincial capital. I'll give some to you and my uncle to try."

"Okay, come into the house."

My uncle doesn't speak as foully as my eldest and second uncles, but he is also a man of character. We all come from the same root, and even if there are branches, they are still connected to the main vein.

The young man was one and a half years older than Xu Ning. He also had a square face and a flat head, and he had a simple and honest smile. After everyone walked into the house, they saw the young sister-in-law holding the child. Xu Ning and others greeted the young sister-in-law.

"Hey, why is the child crying?"

"I just woke up a little while ago..."

The child saw Xu Ning looking a little dazed, his eyes widened with curiosity. Xu Ning took out a red envelope from his pocket and handed it directly to the child, saying with a smile: "Look what this is? Take it!"

"No need! Why would I give money to a child, Erning..."

The uncle and his wife tried to stop her, and the sister-in-law also stepped back, but the child leaned forward, stretched his two short arms straight, grabbed the red envelope with his little hands quite powerfully, and laughed.

"Uncle, don't stop him. It's the first time he meets the child. As an aunt...uncle, he must give a red envelope when meeting the child." Meng Ziyan said hesitantly.

Xu Ning smiled and said, "Well, it's mainly for good luck and prosperity. Look, this child is jumping into my arms."

The young man grinned and said, "That's because he loves you. Normally he gets mad at me when I hug him."

Meng Ziyan said, "Second brother, hug him. Last time I hugged him, he peed all over me."

"Haha, that's because I didn't pee. I just finished peeing. It's nothing."

Xu Ning took the child. He didn't cry in his arms. Instead, he held the red envelope and grinned. Seeing this, his uncle and his uncle couldn't help laughing. Having such a child at home is a source of happiness and a pistachio on the road to happiness.

After carrying the child into the house, the brother and sister put the things on the counter. The uncle wanted to make tea for them, but Xu Ning politely declined with the same words as before.

He noticed a knife on the sharpening stand on the ground and asked, "Is this the knife that my uncle made?"

"Yeah, it's for the kid from our village, Zheng's family. I heard you often go hiking?"

"I run when I have nothing to do."

The young man laughed and said, "We have all heard about it. Who in Qing'an doesn't know Xiao Xu Pao?"

"Not bad at all. People in our villages have been talking about you a lot. Last year you caught a pig weighing over 600 kilograms, and a few days ago you caught another one weighing over 700 kilograms?"

"OK……"

(End of this chapter)